Microsoft Word (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Microsoft Office has become the go to standard for document publishing software. Most users insist that they have this software on their computer from day one. Unfortunately, most new computers only include a trial version that is good for 60 days. After this period you must purchase the software and it can be quite costly depending on which version you get. The least expensive version sells for $149 new.

Most people don’t realize that there is a way to use Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and One Note for free online. They are not as feature packed as the stand-alone versions, but for 99% of what these programs are used for, the free online versions will suffice for most people’s needs. In this article, I will describe how to access these programs and then will discuss some of the pros and cons versus the traditional desktop versions of these programs.

Microsoft Live Skydrive

To start, you will need a Microsoft Live account. If you already have one, you can skip this step. If not, then read on. To sign up for an account, go here and fill in your information. Once you have signed up, you are half way there. In addition to being able to use the Microsoft Office programs, you now have a new email account as well as a 25GB cloud storage “drive” that you can use for whatever you like (document storage, picture sharing, backups, etc.). As a bonus, you can get a Skydrive App for your phone or tablet and have access to your data wherever you go.

Accessing the Skydrive

Microsoft has made it easy to access your skydrive right from your Microsoft Live login homepage. First, login to your account here (notice that this is an https address which signifies that the data is encoded and that security measures are in place). Once you have successfully logged in, you will see a row of links at the top of the page. Simply click on the link for “Skydrive” and you’re in.

Accessing and Using Microsoft Office

Once youare in your Skydrive, you should see the familiar Microsoft icons at the top of the main window including Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and One Note. Clicking on any of these will take you to an edit page that will look very similar to the desktop equivalent. From here, anyone with any proficiency in Word etc. should find it easy to start writing, editing, and formatting in the same way you have always used these programs. In other words, there is nothing new to learn to be able to use these.

You will also find some other useful options on the main page. For instance, you can create folders to organize your documents the same way you would do on your computer. You will also see an “Add Files” link that will allow you to upload any type of file you want to your skydrive, whether it is a Word document you want to edit online or a zip file with your data backups. On the left hand side of the page you will see your current storage quota, a share link, as well as “documents” and “photos” links. For this article, we will stick with the Microsoft Office applications.

Click on the Word icon (first icon on left) to load the edit page for Microsoft Word. It will ask you to name the document. Type in a name and click on “create”. As mentioned, the online version is nearly identical to the desktop version. What is of special note here are the multiple options available when you click on “File” in the top left corner. This will give you a dropdown menu with many options that are not available in the desktop version. From here you can save, print, share, and secure your document. Note that while you can save your document, you cannot save the file to your computer. A way around this is to access the document from a computer that has Word installed on it. You can then use the first option, “Open in Word”, to get your document into the desktop version of Word where you will be able to save it as a file on the computer. Alternatively, if you don’t need to edit it anymore, you can choose the print option and use a free PDF writer program such as CutePDF to save the document on your computer as a PDF file.

That’s all there is to it. Take some time to explore the different programs and options available. There’s a lot of potential there! Of course, it’s not without it’s faults, which is what the next section will cover.

Pros and Cons of Using Skydrive Microsoft Office

Here are some of the pros and cons for using the Live version of Microsoft Office versus using the Desktop version of Microsoft Office 2010.

Pros:

• It’s free!
• You can access your documents from any device with an internet connection.
• It is easy to share and collaborate on documents.
• You get 25GB of free cloud storage space which you can use for documents as well as other files.
• Since the data is stored in the cloud, it is safe from computer failures such as a hard drive crash.

Cons:

• The biggest disadvantage is that you must have an internet connection.
• Documents can not easily be saved to the computer you are using unless that computer has Microsoft Office installed.
• You are limited to 25GB free storage space, which shouldn’t be a problem for most people.
• If you are locked out of your Live account for any reason, you also lose access to your documents.

All in all, I think the pros far outweigh the cons and for those on a budget, this could be the ideal solution. For those looking for a desktop suite of Office programs on a budget, you might also want to look into LibreOffice and OpenOffice, both of which provide excellent free alternatives to the Microsoft Office programs (they are also intercompatible with Microsoft Office document formats so you can open/save files in any of these programs).

As always, please feel free to comment or ask questions using the form below. You can also contact me directly by visiting here.

Image via CrunchBase

As Microsoft gets poised to release it’s newest incarnation of Windows, Windows 8, they have released a consumer preview version for people to try out for free. For all intensive purposes, this is a beta version, so things might not work perfectly but its nonetheless a great way to try it out for free before Microsoft releases the commercial versions for sale.

Here is the link: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/download

If you plan on downloading and installing this, we recommend that you do it on an unused, spare computer or that you install it inside of a virtual machine. You wouldn’t want to run this as your main operating system anyway as it is a beta version. As always, please backup any important data first. If you don’t know what you are doing or don’t feel comfortable installing Windows 8, then please don’t. You can always post questions as a comment to this post and we will assist you from there.

Windows 8 looks to be Windows 7 with a new interface (or front end) that will be handy for tablet users (and other mobile devices). The “Metro” theme incorporates lots of quick shortcuts in a graphical manner. I’m sure most people who are using a desktop will want to disable this as it’s more adept for touchscreen devices.

In any case, give it a spin and let us know your thoughts.

Below you will find a table with our top picks for Black Friday laptop deals for 2011. You can click on the links to go to the store page. The first price listed is the sale price on Friday and the second price is the current/regular price.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment and we will try to answer it soon.

Image via CrunchBase

LastPass is a browser add-on that let’s you store all of your passwords in the cloud, with encryption and password protection built in.

It’s definitely a unique concept to most and it might be hard to adopt…at first.

What happens after you start using it is nothing short of amazing!

Let’s take my personal usage for example. I visit a site for the first time. I decide I want to register with the site. I start to enter my details and then remember that I have a great tool at my disposal. I have already created a custom profile for this situation. Why not utilize it? I make a few mouse clicks and I’m surfing secure and happy.

When you start using LastPass, it’s easy to miss all the cool features below the surface. Sure, it’s a killer password saving utility, but even more it’s got a lot of junk below the trunk.

One of the coolest “hidden” features of LastPass is the “Profile” feature. You can set up an almost infinite amount of profiles if you want. One good use would be to set up your legitimate info in one profile. When you go to new sites to buy something, you can use LastPass’s “Fill Form” to quickly fill in all your info. It is very cool and saves loads of time.

The uses of LastPass are more than meets the eye. If you have an interesting use, please share with a comment.

Get it here: http://lastpass.com

To redeem this discount, simply provide proof when you book a service with us. We will apply this discount to your total service bill. Sorry, we can not offer a discount on parts as we give these parts to you at our cost, as part of our service.

If you know someone that deserves a discount for their service, please let them know about ATL Computer Repair. We will be happy to offer a discounted service for those that serve this country.

The following are three great plugins for Firefox that you can’t live without. The first will help you search in a whole new way, the second will help you shop with frugality in mind, and the third will help you explore the internet in new and exciting ways!

1. Instantfox

This add-on creates a magnifying glass icon just to the right of your address bar (the address bar is the area where you type in the internet address of a website). When you click on the magnifying glass, you are shown a variety of search shortcuts you can now use directly in the address bar! What does this mean?

Well, it means you can type “m Georgia Aquarium” in your address bar and it will show you the Google Maps results for the Georgia Aquarium. If you want to find a car on ebay, you could type in “e 1997 Honda Civic” and it would take you to the eBay results page for 1997 Honda Civics.

Or say you want to find a Harry Potter book on Amazon. Just type in “a Harry Potter” and you are presented with Amazons search results for Harry Potter books.

It may seem trivial to some, but it saves a lot of time, especially if you do a lot of online searches. But how can you find the best price for a Harry Potter book in the US without searching all over the web? This is where the next plugin comes into play.

2. InvisibleHand

This cleverly named plugin (ode to Adam Smith anyone?) works silently in the background to find you the best deal out there.

Say you are looking for a DVD of the movie “Titanic”. You could enter “a Titanic movie” in your address bar (assuming you’ve installed the Instantfox add-on) and you are shown a search results page from Amazon showing you the results for Titanic. You find one you like and click on it.

At this point, the InvisibleHand will drop down a bar on top of the web page showing you the lowest price found on the internet. It’s pretty remarkable! Look at what is offers:

• It stays out of your way

  InvisibleHand remains invisible until it finds a deal on a product you’re shopping for.
  

  Real-time prices

  Unlike price comparison sites, InvisibleHand refreshes its product prices every time you use it
  

  Get cheaper flights

  InvisibleHand automatically looks for cheaper flights when you search for them
  

  It works with Google

  When you google a product, InvisibleHand will automatically show the lowest real-time prices.
  

  Reveal hidden prices

  InvisibleHand knows the price even when the retailer tries to hide it (US only).
  

  It learns as you use it

  InvisibleHand will search for deals, even when you browse a product it hasn’t seen before.

You can also watch a video here to help you get started using InvisibleHand.

3. StumbleUpon

If you’ve never “stumbled”, as they call it, then you are in for a treat. The first step is to sign up for an account on StumbleUpon.com and then check off your interests. The next step is to download the Firefox toolbar for StumbleUpon (available here – Hint: You can also search for all kinds of Firefox plugins from this site).

Once you install it, and restart firefox, you will have a new StumbleUpon toolbar. Simply click on the first button (Stumble!) and it will take you to a random website that matches your interests. If you don’t like the site, then hit Stumble! again.

It’s an amazing way to find cool sites that you would have never otherwise found. Trust me, try it and you will be hooked!

A very cool feature is that it is “intelligent”. If you don’t like a site it suggests, then hit the “Thumbs Down” button and it will omit that site from future stumbles and also recommend other sites that are not similar to the site you are currently viewing.

The opposite is also true. If you “Thumbs Up” a site, it will suggest more sites that it deems similar to the one you are giving the thumbs up to. If you are familiar with the popular music-streaming service Pandora, then it is like Pandora for random website stumbling.

Hopefully you’ve found these plugins useful and explained in a way that makes them useful. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, then please feel free to leave a comment.

Until then, type in “e beach volleyball”, pick out a nice ball and let the InvisibleHand let you know if it’s the best deal around (not to mention plane tickets to the beach), and then sit back and stumble some beach picture sites while you wait for your big day in the sun.

Figuring out what is wrong with a computer can be a tedious and logic-ridden task. Sometimes it is easy, but more often than not, it can cause serious hair pulling.

In this blog post, I will show you how to diagnose common computer problems. If you already know what the problem is then it will be cheaper/faster for the computer tech to fix the problem.

Hardware and External Connections

The first step is to unplug any external device. This includes external hard drives, printers, wireless network adaptors, etc.

Also, if you have installed any hardware recently (again, stuff like printers, storage devices, etc.), unplug them and uninstall the software that enables them, if you can.

No Boot

If your computer does not boot, there are four main culprits. It could be bad RAM, bad power supply, bad graphics card/chip, or the worst, a bad motherboard. For almost any computer, it is very easy for users to remove/replace memory (RAM). This is a vey good first step to take. If you have two RAM sticks, then try one at a time to rule out RAM issues.

If the RAM seems ok and the computer will still not boot, then the power supply needs to be tested. This is usually done (professionally) using a multimeter or voltmeter. Another way to test power issues is to hook up a functioning power supply to the motherboard. If it fails to POST (make a single beep sound for most computers), then you can rule out power supply as an issue. On laptops, the power supply is external and part of the power cord (that big boxy black thing). So if a laptop is not getting power, 99 times out of 100, it is a faulty jack (the part of the computer where you plug the power cord).

If the RAM and power supply are tested and found to be OK, then it is down to the graphics card and/or motherboard. On laptops, the graphics are almost always integrated at the chip level. Higher end desktops, or custom built desktops, will typically have a separate graphics card that interfaces the motherboard via the PCI-Ex16 port. In such cases, the graphics card should be removed to eliminate that possibility.

Otherwise, you are looking at a dead motherboard. Not a pleasant diagnosis, but at least it is a diagnosis.In some cases, it makes sense to replace the motherboard, but for older computers, especially laptops, it makes more sense financially to buy a replacement. We strive to be honest and will always give you the best advice for your situation. If it doesn’t make sense to replace your motherboard, we will never push a sale on you.

BSOD (Blue Screen of Death)

This is the error that you have probably seen at some point or another. Windows shuts down and you are left with a Blue Screen indicating an error. Unless you are a professional computer repair technician, it is unlikely that anything on that Blue Screen will point you in the direction of solving the apparent error. But it can! Write down the error codes and plug them into Google search one by one. It takes some time and you have to sort through the results to find just what you are looking for, but it can be incredibly useful!

BSOD’s are generally caused by a hardware or software failure. Sure, that’s vague, but it’s the truth. If you’ve gone through the steps above and it doesn’t seem like a hardware issue, then it is likely caused by a software issue.

Software Issues

To resolve software issues, you need to take advantage of the controls offered in Windows. Here are some guides to help you:

• http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310353 (for Windows XP)
• http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Optimize-Windows-7-for-better-performance (Windows 7…also applies to Vista)

It is also wise to run anti malware tools on occasion. We recommend Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and Spybot. For general computer cleaning, which can help with BSOD errors, we recommend CCleaner and Advanced System Care 4. All of the programs can be safely and freely downloaded from the following site: http://www.download.com

If you would like a diagnosis, please contact us. If you followed this guide and were able to pinpoint the problem, then we will offer a discount on your computer service.

I was shocked to read this article the other day. A lawsuit has been filed in Wyoming by a couple that was renting a laptop from Aaron’s. They fell behind on their payments and an Aaron’s manager came by to confiscate the laptop. For some reason, the manager thought it was a good idea to show the couple a printed photo taken from their webcam. Obviously, this raised some concerns for the couple.

It turns out that Aaron’s installs spying software on ALL their computers! They also install hardware inside the computer that can not be properly removed without special equipment. What this means is that they can remotely turn on the web camera and spy on you whenever they feel like it. They can also track all of your activity and record everything you type on your keyboard.

The lawsuit is pending and the lawyers for Aaron’s claim that it is perfectly legal per the contract. In the meantime, do yourself a favor and never rent anything from Aaron’s.

Scary stuff!

You can read the full news article here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110503/ap_on_re_us/us_rental_computer_spyware

About a week ago, some US traffic headed for Facebook was routed through China and then Korea. Apparently it only affected some users using AT&T internet in the US. If you are using AT&T internet, it’s possible that China may have gotten its hands on your facebook data like status updates, friends, photos, etc.

This only affects users that are still not encrypting their facebook data.

Facebook recently rolled out encrypted https addresses. We wrote on our facebook page about this recently. Ask Leo has a great walkthrough on how to enable it. Do it now!

You can read more about the incident at Cnet.

Why would I want an SSD?

There are many reasons to prefer a SSD over the standard hard drive. Speed, durability, and weight are key reasons.

SSDs are much quicker at retrieving data because they do not need to wait for disks to spin up to speed, heads to search the disk, and data to be read and transferred, like a typical hard drive (HDD). With an SSD, the data is pulled from stationary memory chips. There are no moving parts and the lag that typically occurs with HDDs does not apply. With an SSD, you can boot your computer in a fraction of the time. The new Samsung laptops, which utilize SSDs, can reportedly boot Windows 7 in 18 seconds!

SSDs are also more durable than HDDs. They can survive a drop much more than HDD because they don’t have moving parts. The delicate platters and heads in the HDDs make them especially susceptible to extreme vibrations. SSDs (solid state means that it is completely digital and has no moving parts) can sustain forces much greater, up to the point of physically breaking the chips, or circuit board in which they lie.

Weight is also a key factor to SSD preference. They are much lighter. Also, they can be much smaller.

This is a boon for computer designers looking to fit more stuff into smaller and smaller spaces (think smartphones and tablets).

Another big reason that SSDs are superior is heat. Your typical HDD generates a good amount of heat. Some desktop computer cases (the better ones) come with fans built in right next to the drive bays (where you physically mount your hard drives). The reason this exists is because of the old truism that heat is the enemy. Typically, electronic devices run better at cooler temperatures. Almost all electronic devices generate heat, but the fault of the HDD is that it tends to generate a lot of heat (hence the fan situated right next to it in some cases). SSDs generate significantly less heat.

Why would I not want an SSD?

Do you have a huge music or video collection? Want to edit audio or video? Then don’t use an SSD. Well, you still can, but it takes some more work to get it setup right (more about that in a bit).

A major drawback, currently, for SSDs is that they have very little storage capacity compared to HDDs. For HDDs, 3TB drives recently hit the market. That is a tremendous amount of storage space compared to what is currently being offered for SSDs (256GB).

Another major drawback is price. They are expensive! You can currently get a 2TB HDD for less than $100, but it will cost you around the same amount to get a SSD that only has 60GB.

The final drawback is that SSDs do not stream data as efficiently as an HDD. It gets pretty technical, but just know that the transfer of data is handled differently. If you want to run lots of small files quickly (like during boot), a SSD can work great. If you have a music project with 24 tracks of audio running simultaneously, it’s probably better to opt for HDD. This is ironic in many ways, but nonetheless, optimizing your system for the tasks it will perform is always the best route. That said, a neatly optimized system could have a SSD boot (and system) drive while also having HDDs for storage and assimilation (assembling various chunks of audio or video on demand). If setup and configured properly, it can make for an awesome computer experience!

Of course, despite the pros and cons, things will get better and SSDs will gain storage potential and will probably one day make HDDs obsolete. But until that happens, hopefully the pros and cons outlined above will give you enough knowledge to research and make the correct decision for yourself.

As always, we’d love to help you if you’d like a computer consultant. Contact us if you’d like us to partner with you in finding the perfect solution for your computing needs.